article Class 4A Notebook (9/17): The RPI Has Landed

This week, the first rough cut, experimental, etc. version of the RPI was released on the Riherds scoreboard, giving our first view of what this potential playoff game-changer has in store for us. We’re not quite at the season’s midpoint, but this gives a fun, pre-district look at what we might expect down the road.

Potential Region Finals:

- Franklin-Simpson [District 2, Unranked, RPI .346] at Madisonville-North Hopkins [District 1, #4, RPI .712]

-Moore [District 3, Unranked, RPI .520] at Franklin County [District 4, #5, RPI .712]

There are many tiebreakers if two teams have the same RPI, but we’re going to use the BGP rank as a tiebreaker here between Madisonville and Franklin County. So far, this is what you’d have gotten from a traditional cross-bracketing setup, assuming the top team in each district won. Notably, teams like Hopkinsville (#7) and Central (#8) would be denied a shot at a region title due to having to play against Madisonville-North Hopkins and Franklin County in their district, respectively.

-Scott [District 6, Unranked, RPI .493] at Johnson Central [District 8, #2, RPI .659]

-Corbin [District 7, #6, RPI .551] at Boyle County [District 5, #1, RPI .648]

Here we get a bit more mixing going on, as the even and odd districts get matched up. Notably, the RPI grants Johnson Central, our #2 team, the far more favorable matchup against Scott. It forces Boyle County into a rematch from the 2018 playoffs against Corbin, albeit in Danville this time. In the traditional setup, Boyle County would have hosted Scott, and as the odd numbered district representative in an odd numbered region in an odd numbered year, the Rebels would have had homefield throughout the playoffs regardless. Obviously, there are weeks for this to change, but this would be the first team negatively impacted by this setup.

Potential State Semifinals:

-Boyle County [RPI .648] at Madisonville-North Hopkins [RPI .712]

-Johnson Central [RPI .659] at Franklin County [RPI .712]

While these are probably the types of matchups we would expect in this system – with Boyle County and Johnson Central on opposite sides – this is not exactly the setup that we would anticipate. For Boyle County, that’s a nearly 3 hour trip to Madisonville when, again, they would have been expected to be at home for the entire playoffs in the old setup. It’s a relatively modest 2 hours and 16 minutes for Johnson Central to Franklin County. Aside from hosting the games, this setup probably isn’t the favorite for Madisonville or Franklin County, both of which would see their state title appearance hopes diminished by playing superior opponents.

Games of Note

-#3 Lexington Catholic continued their standout play with a tight 34-31 win over DeSales, the #2 team in 3A. The game started out in dominant fashion with the Knights getting out to a 24-3 lead, but DeSales came all the way back for a 31-27 lead. Beau Allen just used that to set up a come from behind drive, breaking off a 40 yard run before throwing a 5 yard pass to JD Woodall for the winning touchdown with 4 minutes left.

-It was a brutal week for the back half of the top 10. #5 Corbin fell to Beechwood 26-10, managing just 212 yards of offense in the game, suffering their second straight loss. They have to tangle with Bowling Green after the bye week, a likely third straight loss. #8 Central continued their brutal schedule, getting blanked in a 23-0 result against St. X. They failed to top 100 yards rushing or passing in that one. The bad news is they have South Warren this week, but the good news is that the schedule clears up completely after that. They’ll have a chance to be 5-4 going into their game against Franklin County at the end of the season. #7 Hopkinsville had their first bad misstep of the season, falling 28-13 to a resurgent Henderson County. Javier Bland was a scud missile in this one, throwing for 247 yards but completing just 16 of 45 passes. Reece Jesse continues to be a stud though, hauling in 7 catches for 121 yards. Finally, and most importantly, #9 Knox Central fell on the road to Harlan County by a 28-21 score, and Harlan County used that result to hop into the top 10. The Black Bears fell behind Knox 21-0 in the first half, but Harlan County hammered away with a punishing ground attack led by Ben Landis (27 rushes, 170 yards) to score the win.

Upcoming Game of the Week

There are quite a few highlights on the schedule this week. Lexington Catholic visits rival Lexington Christian, Central hosts South Warren, and Wayne County hosts newly ranked Harlan County. But the honor this week has to go to the battle of #1s . 3A #1 Christian Academy of Louisville travels to 4A #1 Boyle County for a clash of the titans. CAL is coming off an OT loss to Ballard, which snapped an 18 game winning streak. The Centurions have not lost in consecutive games since 2011. For Boyle County, this is expected to be the first significant test of the year, and their next three games represent the proving grounds. After CAL, they host Highlands, have a bye week, then the crucial game against Lexington Catholic.

ttt